WEEK IN REVIEW: Laurels and Darts | January 19, 2017

Rutgers has seen a decrease in sexual assault reports from 26 cases in the year 2015 to 23 cases in 2016. This decrease is observed while N.J. institutions of higher education in general have seen a 24% increase in such reports. The reasoning behind the decrease here at Rutgers is still somewhat unclear, but the increasing general trend may be the result of advocacy and education with regard to reporting these experiences and how to go about doing so. Spreading the word about how to handle situations involving sexual assault or harassment is important and acts as one key step toward mitigating the issue as a whole. We laurel Rutgers and other N.J. colleges for educating their communities about sexual assault.

BOGUS BUS SYSTEM

Rutgers buses were unable to utilize location services this Tuesday leading into yesterday due to a national malfunction with the system. The tracking service used by Rutgers’ buses is called Nextbus, and for about a full day, students were not able to utilize it. While it may seem insignificant, many students have busy and crammed schedules and rely on this application to make it to class on time — which is one of the bus system’s main goals in general. We understand and appreciate the effort given by the administration to allow the bus system here in New Brunswick to run smoothly, but we dart the fact that so many students were thoroughly inconvenienced by the malfunction of the tracking service on top of the many other annoyances associated with using Rutgers’ bus service.

MOVES FOR MEN'S BASKETBALL

Led by Corey Sanders with 18 points and eight assists, the Rutgers men’s basketball team defeated Iowa in probably its best Big Ten match on Wednesday night. With a final score of 80 to 64, the Scarlet Knights shot 54 percent from field-goal range. Seeing the team dominate a fellow Big Ten rival is encouraging and will hopefully bring hope to the Rutgers fan base. It can be said with confidence that a strong fan base likely contributes to a high-energy and successful team. We laurel the Knights for their effort in representing our University on the court and bringing a good name to Rutgers athletics.

DREAMERS DESERVE DECENCY

Chancellor Debasish Dutta sent out an email to the Rutgers community on Tuesday night with regard to Rutgers' Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. In the email, which came as a response to a federal district court ordering President Donald J. Trump's administration to continue accepting DACA requests, it was emphasized that, “... Rutgers considers ending the DACA program to be inconsistent with American values.” While we commend our University’s leaders for defending their students, no matter the circumstances, we dart the existent necessity to continuously remind our nation’s leadership that DREAMers deserve an education too.

FINANCES FIRST

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s database, Rutgers students default on their loans 3.3 percent of the time, while the national average is 11.5 percent. In an effort to cut down on student default rates, the University gives students the opportunity to take part in financial literacy classes through the Office of Financial Aid. The aforementioned, along with relatively good financial aid resources, has likely contributed to Rutgers students handling their financial situations better than other schools. We laurel the Rutgers administration and the Office of Financial Aid for helping students mitigate the financial burdens that come with receiving a degree in higher education.

PREPARE YOUR PUPILS

The class Expository Writing at Rutgers has a bad reputation for being overly difficult as a core requirement, but in reality, most students pass the class with at least a “B”. The reasoning for it seeming so difficult might be because high school English departments do a poor job preparing their students for the rigors of writing in higher education. In this day and age, a college degree is more valuable than it has ever been before, and the more people that can attain one the better. We dart the programs and circumstances that lead to students’ ill-preparedness for college-level English courses.

The Daily Targum's editorials represent the views of the majority of the 149th editorial board. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.